Anne of the Indies (1951)

This story will likely keep you entertained throughout, with occasional action events, and complex interpersonal relationships, not to mention a bombastic Blackbeard. Like Maureen O'Hara, in 1952's "Against All Flags", 25yo Jean Peters was privileged to star as a woman pirate captain, thus achieving the fantasy of a woman ordering a sizable group of men about. Both developed credible skill with a rapier, which added credence to their position. In Jean's case, she duels with Blackbeard(Thomas Gomez)) in a semi-friendly bout, then engages in serious bouts. Clearly, Jean, as Captain Anne Providence, is enjoying her role, putting her all into it....As the story unfolds, Anne hates anything British, blaming them for killing her brother, who, like her, had been nurtured by a young Blackbeard. Now, she was feared nearly as much as Blackbeard. Soon, she sinks a British ship, making the crew walk the plank, all except a handsome Frenchman , whom she calls 'Frenchie'(Louis Jordan), to whom she gives the option of joining her crew or walking the plank. She treats him with some suspicion at first, but gradually warms up to him, and eventually they engage in a passionate kiss or two, something she's presumably never done before with a crew member. But, then she would have him flogged at one point. Later, she would discover that Frenchie had a beautiful wife(Debra Paget, as Molly) housed in Port Royal, and that he was actually a spy for the British, who had impounded his ship and wouldn't give it back until he captured either Anne or Blackbeard. Anne captured Molly , and threatened to throw her to her crew, or sell her into white slavery. But before all this happened, she had defended Frenchie(Captain La Rochelle) from attack by Blackbeard, who claimed he was an ex-captain, and a spy. She made Blackbeard and his small crew leave the island. Blackbeard would get his revenge in the end. So now, Anne has the British, Frenchie, and Blackbeard all out to get her. Eventually, she captures Frenchie, and maroons him with his wife on a very small island, hoping they will starve or die of thirst. Then, she has a change of heart, returns and gives them a small boat. This proves her downfall, as Blackbeard is closing in. After losing Frenchie and Blackbeard as friends or lovers, Anne seems to have no close friends, male or female. She despises the wenches who provide comfort to the pirates and others in the few towns. She also despises kept ladies, such as Molly. She apparently only respected women, like herself, who had earned the status of being a leader in the outside world , or had mastered a complex job normally done by men. She had earned her exalted status, despite being functionally illiterate, as most women of that time were. Check out YouTube to see it.

This film is far from the purely cutthroat pirate escapades one might expect from a film about pirates. There is much more to this film. Love, revenge, and sacrifice are at the heart of this engaging story.The incomparable Louis Jourdan portrays Captain Pierre François LaRochelle, who is forced into pretending to be a prisoner on a pirate ship whose purpose is to spy on Blackbeard (Thomas Gomez) and Captain Providence (Jean Peters. The discovery that Providence is a woman changes LaRochelle's game plan; he woos and romances her all the while holding tight to the fact that he is happily married to Molly (Debra Paget). When LaRochelle plots to have Providence captured, she realizes his truth and kidnaps Molly as revenge.Revenge because LaRochelle does not truly love her. He had lied to get what was needed in order to get his own ship back. Despite the tough exterior that Providence exhibits, she is still a woman--a reality that LaRochelle had shown her through his (albeit false) tenderness. She even reneges on her banishment to a deserted cay, where she had taken Pierre and Molly, and arranges their departure moments before she engages in battle with Blackbeard--her mentor--and is killed. Her last act is the kindest Providence has ever shown. It also cements her legend as one of the great pirates.This is a tale of love--true love and unrequited love. Pierre's true love lies with Molly. Providence's love for Pierre is unrequited. However, witnessing the true love shared between Pierre and Molly quenches Providence's thirst for revenge and opens her kindness and humanity. She sacrifices herself so that Pierre and Molly can live out their lives together. That is indeed a noble act.

Having tried his hand successfully at most other genres Jacques Tourneur, son of the great Maurice, moved to swashbucklers in 1950 via the Burt Lancaster vehicle The Flame And The Arrow. Having enjoyed a huge international success with Flame he followed it with a fictionalized account of Anne Boney, a lady pirate who became Anne Providence for the movie. Shot in the old (and best) three-stripe Technicolor Tourneur gets the movie off with a bang as Anne's ship captures another and quickly disposes of the crew via the traditional plank. Quickly establishing a major plot point Tourneur has her balk at dishing out the same treatment to Pierre La Rochelle (Louis Jourdan) and inviting him to join her crew. From there on it's pretty formulaic, we know Peters is going to fall for Jourdan and that he will either have a wife/fiancée or be a spy and as things turn out he is guilty on both counts. Herbert Marshall is the pick of the supporting cast as might be expected whilst James Robertson Justice is a joke as a pirate with a voice half a tone higher than Tiny Tim and a Scottish accent that would bring a blush to the cheek of Dick Van Dyke. With Tourneur at the helm it can't be ALL bad but a little more good would be nice.

This movie was much better than I expected. ++++ Jean Peters actually does a passable job as a pirate and does decent work in her sword fights. (To the extent she may have a double doing the action, it's hard to tell...but Peters herself obviously is doing a good deal of it, and doing it well.) ++++ With a good and serious script, this could have been an excellent film. But it's basically cheesy. Still entertaining however. ++++ Not up to a regular Jacques Tournier film, but definitely above a regular Jean Peters film. Color is typical of this '50s time period, ie. too garish and not realistic. The actors for Blackbeard and her first mate and the drunken doctor were good. Louis Jordan was a bit weak. I don't think Debra Paget was right either. But certainly Jean Peters and Debra Paget were probably the two best looking female stars in the '50s.